Kick the Can

My favorite duo from Hamilton, Ontario is back with It's All True, their fourth studio album (excluding Body Language, which is their compilation of various dance songs).
For all the sonic shimmer, not much exposure is needed to realize that the album concerns an embittering relationship. A strong indication comes 40 seconds into the opening "Itchy Fingers," the point when Greenspan delivers "I'd rather crush you with a paper folded, just to see you die" with belligerent ebullience. As ever, the duo’s sound is remarkably amorphous, combining 1980s synth-pop with R&B touches, multiple basslines, and truncated rave riffs. Jeremy Greenspan's vocals are amongst my favorite on the genre, as his intonation at times is reminiscent of Cabaret Voltaire, to a hushed bedroom whisper, simultaneously vulnerable and affirmative.

It's All True sounds like the album the Junior Boys have been moving toward their whole career. It's got the same low-key mixtape-from-a-lover charm as Last Exit, but sacrifices none of the appealing slickness of their last few albums. They are hitting their stride, along with the large helpings of dancefloor joy, some of the album's most immediately arresting moments are its sparsest and most fragile. Take the second song, "Playtime", a slow number seemingly about love lost and hurt. The emotional resonance is not the pitying kind that comes across from some folk singers, rather, I feel staid, contemplative, and soothed by the synths. If you have been following their career, this album will not be of a great surprise, but you will see that they are a duo that has perfected their sound and hopefully will continue in this direction for a long time to come!

As usual, I present you one of the deep cuts, dear readers. Listen to "Kick the Can", a Kraut-rock inspired gem here.


Buy your copy of It's All True here.

Rolls Bayce

Battles is comprised of drummer John Stanier of Helmet and Tomahawk, guitarist/keyboardist Ian Williams of Don Caballero and Storm & Stress, and guitarist David Konopka of Lynx (Tyondai Braxton, son of avant garde composer Anthony Braxton, left the group in 2010 to pursue his solo projects). Even without Braxton, they still provide their post-rock playfulness and charm. Instead, they have opted to bring in some guest vocalists such as Gary Numan (!), Matias Aguayo, Blonde Redhead’s Kazu Makino, and the Boredoms' Yamantaka Eye. Not bad, eh? The result is pop from another planet, unfettered by conventional structures but still remarkably immediate and catchy.

The instrumental songs bear the strength of Mirrored's staccato drumming yet bringing in island-inspired steel drums, but not so much that we are singing "irie mon"! There's a true sense of joyfulness in the playing. Drummer John Stanier says, "I don't think challenging, new music has to be super serious all the time. That's really boring to me and pushing boundaries should not be boring." True, I don't think there's a dull moment to this album.

Take a listen to this short ditty, "Rolls Bayce".


Buy your copy of Battles Gloss Drop here.

Feed Your Demons

It must be an emerging trend--making soundtracks to non-existent films, or those in the listener's minds. While 1972's Blacula was a legitimate yet campy franchise, this Blakula is actually the duo, The Diaphanoids, who tend to make concept albums.
On Permanent Midnight, they imagine what would happen if Blacula defrosted in 1977, posed for Robert Mapplethorpe, went dancing at Studio 54, wrote poems with William Burroughs, shared spray cans and brushes with Jean Michel Basquiat, jammed with Miles Davis and the Velvet Underground, starred in David Lynch's movies, got addicted to heavy drugs and alcohol, experimented with sexual partners, lived in baroque palaces and shooting galleries, and became more human than human then got crushed by the city sickness.

The music is both unique and at the same time 'classic'. Musical touchstones range from funk, 70s disco, psychedelia, avant-garde, no-wave vibe, cinematic atmospheric sounds, nightclub sleazy jazz to slow-mo bluesy grooves. Every track on the album has been played by real musicians, orchestral ensembles and choirs. I think it's a fun album, seamless progression, a great energy and it makes you shake your butt and tap your toes.

Get your groove on with "Feed Your Demons" here.


Buy a copy of Blakula's Permanent Midnight here.

Heavy Metal Lover

It shouldn't be a surprise that Born This Way would be the pick of the week. It's been a decent new releases week, however, the Pop Spectacle that is Haus of Gaga trumps most picks. This is her finest collection of songs yet--hard to believe this is only her second full-length album, as there is a large leap in maturity and polish from The Fame. I know if I was 25, I'd feel like a real slouch in comparison! From start to finish, she is taking the listener on a journey--literally, as a female moto-bot and figuratively as she has us considering spirituality, family, love, and high self-esteem.

The mood is darker, with sultry bass lines and techno that's inspired by Iron Maiden, as she says in interviews. Gaga channels stadium rock and divas from Madonna or Whitney Houston. I was impressed at how the album showcases her voice, revealing her strong, wide vocal range. She brings us through many moods and if you crank it, your foot will start tapping and your head will be bopping. Overall, this album is highly entertaining from start to finish, with no fillers. She may be right, this could be the best pop album of the decade.

Take a listen to one of the hot deep cuts, Heavy Metal Lover, here.


Buy your copy of Born This Way (get it while it's hot!! LP comes out 6/17) here.

Theme from "Rome"

I love a good spaghetti western and I love an album based on themes, overtures, and/or moods. When I heard that Jack White was teaming up with Dangermouse to make Rome, I was shocked and excited. A soundtrack for a non-existent film, it brings to mind Ennio Morricone. You can hear composer Daniele Luppi's love and respect for the brooding romanticism, fragile delicacy, and almost psychedelic spaceiness of classic Italian soundtracks in just about every note. In his partner Danger Mouse, he's found not only a similarly smitten collaborator, but a producer who's made a career out of accurately capturing the atmosphere of old records without (usually) coming off sterile. And they've got the moody vibe of those 60s soundtracks down on Rome, as much due to the vintage recording touches as to the Italian movie industry personnel the duo drafted in to lend their hard-earned feel for this music.

One can't really select a single stand out track, as they all work off of each other, so here is the first song, "Theme from Rome" that sets the stage for this epic album. Enjoy!



Get your own copy of Dangermouse & Daniele Luppi's Rome here.

Thru & Thru

Brooklyn's Gang Gang Dance are Back with Eye Contact, striking a better balance of song craft and atmosphere. The band's previous record, Saint Dymphna, had admirable futurist-pop ambitions-- collaging elements of hyphy, grime, techno, and contemporary R&B into a psychedelic stew-- but it sometimes came off overcooked. s stiff and over-considered. It's a tighter and more focused record that pares back the band's habit for noisy embellishment and psychic jewelry to reveal taught rhythms and catchy hooks.
I found myself thinking it's gone into New-Age meets Dead Can Dance territory, but that's not a bad direction. If anything, it signifies that the band has grown considerably and have matured over the past decade.

Take a listen to one my favorites, (even though this album really needs to be heard all the way through), "Thru and Thru" here.


Get your copy of Eye Contact Here!

Contact High

Melbourne's Architecture In Helsinki are back and more synthy than ever! I would almost think they started hanging out with Cut Copy, the way they concentrate on creating ultra catchy numbers and a pure pop sensibility! Recorded over two years at the band’s studio space, the royally-titled Buckingham Palace, the band enlisted friend/collaborator Francois Tetaz to aid them in creating dance floor-ready rhythms that are as sophisticated and romantic as they are move-inducing. According to songwriter Cameron Bird, the LP is all about “being at one with our ideas, obsessed with popular music and falling in love with our hometown. We wanted to build a record to get lost in. A record that always feels exactly what you are feeling.”

Moment Bends makes good on the single’s promise, with Architecture in Helsinki moving forward by looking back -- not only to their own skills with hooks and melodies, but to ‘80s synth pop too. “Desert Island” captures the album’s feel, its artificial tropical paradise coming across like a strange but appealing hybrid of Wham! and Matthew Wilder's “Break My Stride.” It also features some of Bird's finest singing to date, falling somewhere in between his earlier wispy vocals and his forced throatiness on Places Like This. Much of Moment Bends finds the band discovering a happy medium between its old and new sounds, as on “Everything’s Blue,” which tempers Places Like This' attempts at funk with a fresher and more natural approach. Architecture in Helsinki don’t so much borrow from the ‘80s as they embody them, whether on “Denial Style”'s Paisley Park pop or “Contact High”. At times, the pristine sonics overwhelm the actual songs, and the lone ballad “B4 3D” closes the album on a slightly anticlimactic note, but overall Moment Bends is a fun, positive album that gets us ready for Spring to finally arrive!

Take a listen to one of my favorite tracks, "Contact High" here.


Buy your copy of "Moment Bends" here.